Contents

Introduction

An OSM project mapping the U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS). The USBRS is a developing national network of bicycle routes, linking urban, suburban, and rural areas using a variety of appropriate cycling facilities. To date, 24 U.S. Bicycle Routes (USBRs) spanning 8992 miles (14471 km) have been established in the District of Columbia and 18 states: Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Presently, more than 40 states are working on U.S. Bicycle Routes. These routes are selected and maintained by state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), and designated and catalogued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Source: Adventure Cycling Association (ACA).

By using OSM to create high quality maps of this growing network (and wonderful national resource), we can promote its further development, growth and use. OSM is now a positive tool for geographic communication of existing and developing bicycle routing at local, state and national levels in the USA!

An international cycling map created from OSM data is available, provided by Andy Allan. The map rendering is still being improved, the data are updated every few days. It shows National Cycle Network cycle routes, other regional and local routes, and other cycling-specific features, such as:

dedicated cycle tracks and lanes

bicycle parking

contours and hill colouring

bike shops

proposed bike routes (or numbering protocols), contrasted with the Lonvia map, below, which does not show proposed routes, but actual routes only

Lonvia's Cycling Map by Sarah Hoffman is an overlay which shows marked cycle routes around the world. Updated daily, it renders actual routes without the state=proposed tag. Therefore no proposed routes (or numbering protocols) are displayed.

Approved USBRs in OSM

As of July 2013, OpenStreetMap contains all approved USBRs (or endeavors to do so as routes are newly approved by AASHTO). In the Cycle Map layer, these display as solid red lines badged with red route numbers. Cycle Map also displays proposed USBRs (ongoing proposals distinctly moving towards AASHTO application as USBRs — or better, actual USBR application ballots before AASHTO) as dashed red lines. The Cycle Map renderer displays both approved and proposed routes, and the Lonvia renderer displays only approved (not proposed) routes.

OSM also contains two significant national bicycle routes (displayed as solid red named, not numbered ncns) in the USA which are not strictly part of the USBRS: East Coast Greenway (ECG, which both shares and diverges from segments of USBR 1) and Mississippi River Trail (MRT, the Minnesota segments of which are identical to USBR 45 and 45A). Each of these routes (ECG & MRT) traverse several states over several thousand miles/kilometers. Hence, these two quasi-private (not government) bicycle routes are determined to be so "national in scope" in the USA that their inclusion in OSM's national cycleway network is asserted (as named, but not numbered ncns). ECG & MRT exist alongside USBRs as quasi-national routes in OSM's national bicycle route hierarchy, but are not USBRs (except for USBR 45 and 45A in Minnesota, which are "both" USBRs and part of MRT).

Additionally, as USBR 25 in Ohio moves closer to AASHTO application and approval, the also quasi-private Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR, traversing several states over 2000 miles/3200 kilometers) may become a third "national in scope" quasi-national route displayed in OSM as an ncn. This might occur as UGRR potentially transitions (state by state) to USBR 25, perhaps starting with Ohio.

District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio (>95% done; remains incomplete in Dayton). In Ohio, USBR 50 has been approved by AASHTO. The route still needs to be entered into OSM through downtown Dayton. Note that although ODOT's website features the alternative green shield, it has not received approval from FHWA to use it, so renderers should use the black and white shield for now.

Proposed USBRs in OSM

It is critically important not to assume that a USBR corridor plus a guess on your part (for example, that there is already a state or regional route through that corridor) "means" that you can or should enter a proposed USBR into OSM. Only do so when you have solid knowledge that there is coordinated statewide activity actively assembling a USBR. This usually happens only as towns and cities along the route, affected counties, and the statewide Department of Transportation are all communicating and exhibit active and involved coordination, publishing something more substantial than an incomplete or simple draft map: an "active statewide project." (The so-called "high bar standard" for entering into OSM a proposed USBR). As the AASHTO approval process completes twice a year (in the spring and autumn), a rough timeframe of a route first arriving on this list, proceeding to application and gaining approval is approximately six to 24 months.

In addition to type=route + route=bicycle, tag such proposed statewide relations with network=ncn + cycle_network=US:US + ref=USBR# + state=proposed. Please add source=Where you learned the route members (e.g. "State DOT web site," "County Bicycle Committee Meeting, 9/9/2014" or "Pending AASHTO application"). To each route that is a member of a super-relation with other routes sharing the same route number, add name=USBR# (name of state) to disambiguate each state's route as a super-relation member.

In the earliest stages of an existing network=rcn state route becoming a proposed network=ncn USBR, you may wish to simply add an ncn=proposed tag to the existing state route. In Cycle Map layer, this superimposes a dashed red line on top of the existing solid turquoise line (with no red numbered shields, keeping the turquoise numbered shields). If you do this (shortcut), it is correct to eventually update relation tags so they include those in the previous paragraph, as this requires changing the ref # from the rcn-numbered (state) route to the ncn-numbered (USBR/national) route. An intermediate status in this scenario may be two relations: initially the state relation, then the shortcut of adding ncn=proposed to the state relation, then two relations (one representing the actual state route, another representing the proposed USBR/national route) which stay synced, then (perhaps) back to a single relation after AASHTO approval (assuming the state relation is deleted, having become subsumed by the USBR).

Creating super-relations (containing multiple relations of network=ncn routes, each relation containing road/cycleway members within a single state) is only appropriate for proposed routes when they are simultaneously proposed in multiple states. In this case, create relations so they contain road/cycleway members within a single state. Then, if at least two states have an incipient network=ncn route proposed as a single numbered USBR, these can be assembled into a super-relation. A current example of this is proposed USBR 90 in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana: exactly these three statewide relations are in the super-relation for proposed USBR 90.

What follows are not yet approved USBRs, they are only serious proposals, with widely varying levels of activity. When at least this level of USBR development activity happens in a state, whether to an existing network=rcn route or with an as-yet-unmapped-in-OSM route, consider tagging the route as above where it is proposed. (Such consideration must meet the "high bar standard:" knowledge of a DOT's project to distinctly move towards a USBR application, not simply a corridor or vague draft map, but actual turn-by-turn directions of a largely complete route). As with any route, this means initially creating a properly-tagged relation, then adding/editing member roads/cycleways to that relation. If you wish to adopt one of the proposed routes below marked VOLUNTEER! please contact Kerry Irons via GMail (irons54vortex@). Also, please do your best to keep this wiki table updated with your progress, for example, create BrowseRelation entries for new routes. If you don't or can't update this table, please contact stevea with notes of your progress. Finally, please keep this table synchronized with state registry wikis (for example, Ohio).

Proposed USBR #

Relation(s)

State(s)

Status and notes - usually where coordinated activity is taking place that will lead to a state application to AASHTO

Incipient in Virginia and West Virginia, where both segments of this route are now fully entered into OSM. Concurrent with Blue Ridge Parkway from North Carolina northeasterly to a concurrency with USBR 76 continuing to near Waynesboro. Proposed to follow the Blue Ridge Parkway to Front Royal and then mostly secondary roads to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

USBR 21

No relation yet in Ohio nor Kentucky

OH, KY

Identified in ODOT's Access Ohio 2040 transportation plan as that state's highest priority USBR. The draft route map indicates it will largely follow the Ohio to Erie Trail, superseding State Bike Route 1. As that is an existing statewide route, correctly entered into OSM as a network=rcn route, we wait on further efforts until ODOT moves closer to an active USBR 21 project before we might tag rcn=1 with ncn=proposed, include Ohio rcn=1 members in a new ncn ref=21 relation, or create a new ncn ref=21 relation different from rcn=1.

Kentucky's DOT identifies a USBR 21 corridor called "Bluegrass Tour." This contains spurs/alternate segments and a large loop around Lexington: it is in earlier stages of development.

USBR 23

No relation yet in Kentucky nor Alabama

KY, TN (done), AL

Potential early emergence in Kentucky suggests Mammoth Caves State Bicycle Route as a connection to USBR 23 in Tennessee.Possibly/perhaps incipient in Alabama. As there is no active project in either state, it is suggested that this row entry in this table be deleted.

An Alabama DOT document from 2009 says on page 12 "it is recommended that the U.S. Bike Route 25 in Alabama be the same as the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route." However, Alabama appears not to be further developing this route nor does it have an active project to bring this route to AASHTO. This route is tagged with network=rcn + ref=UGR + cycle_network=US:ACA + ncn=proposed so the first two keys cause Cycle Map to display a solid turquoise line badged with turquoise UGR shields, and the last key superimposes a dashed red line (with no red 25 shields).

Mississippi's UGR segment is tagged network=rcn + ref=UGR + cycle_network=US:ACA. There is no active project in the state to promote this regional route to USBR 25.

Tennessee's UGR segment is tagged network=rcn + ref=UGR + cycle_network=US:ACA. There is no active project in the state to promote this regional route to USBR 25.

Kentucky's DOT identifies a USBR 25 corridor called "Underground Railroad Tour" (URT). This omits a significant segment through Louisville: it is in earlier stages of development. However, entered into OSM and noted as the Kentucky relation in this row is ACA's UGR, which is quite similar to Kentucky DOT's URT.

In Ohio, ODOT's Access Ohio 2040 transportation plan targets designation of USBR 25 after USBR 21. The draft route map indicates that the route will follow the Ohio to Erie Trail from Cincinnati to Xenia (as proposed by OKI[1]), the Creekside Trail to Dayton, the Great Miami River Recreation Trail and Canal Run to the outskirts of Piqua, and roads from there on north. USBR 25 is currently mapped according to this proposal from Cincinnati to Xenia. As other potential USBR 25 in Ohio segments are now entered into OSM as actual statewide (rcn) routes, it seems best to leave these as they are until Ohio moves closer towards AASHTO application. The existing ACA UGR route in Ohio branches from the early proposed USBR 25 southeasterly from Milford to the Kentucky border at Aberdeen.

Incipient in Wisconsin. Presently concurrent with the Elroy-Sparta State Bike Trail, but there is news from Adventure Cycling Association that this route is "nearly fully defined." The route will follow DNR trails nearly across the state except for an on-road portion from roughly Reedsburg to Madison. Two alternates are considered for the on-road portion, one using the ferry to cross the Wisconsin River at Merrimac and the other crossing the river in Sauk City. Possibly two routes will be implemented: one as USBR 30 and one as USBR 30A. The Wisconsin Bike Federation may have a soft-copy map document -- it is believed turn-by-turn directions are available. The latest news: WisDOT and the DNR have hired a consultant to help with the routing and public process around it, and the timeline for getting the final routes is November 2015. OSM contact: hobbesvsboyle

Not mapped yet. Proposed as part of ODOT's Access Ohio 2040 transportation plan. Stalled here (as a "red proposed route") until this gets further momentum from ODOT. (Too vague as a draft route to be considered a serious proposed route).

Active development in Indiana. This route is essentially added to OSM, though some two-way bicycle path segments in the northern part of this route might still need to be improved.

Kentucky's DOT identifies a USBR 35 corridor called "Ramblin’ River Bike Tour." This contains spurs/alternate segments and a loop south of Cincinnati: it is in earlier stages of development. Kentucky causes yellow.

The Natchez Trace is emerging/incipient as USBR 35 (and possibly part of 25) in Mississippi.

As provided by northwest Indiana (NIRPC) counties, a draft route has emerged in Indiana: beginning from the Illinois state line at Eggers Grove, south and southeast through Hammond, eastward south of Gary, through Hobart and turning northeast through Portage, east of Burns Harbor crossing major rail lines and Interstate 94 as it takes a brief northwesterly jog, then on Dunes Highway through Michigan City, ending just east of Michiana and Michiana Shores. This route is largely on trails though some will be on roads where trails are in development or not suitable for touring bicycles. Volunteer Joe Kallo is entering data for this Indiana portion of the route.

Wisconsin appears to be waiting on completion of USBR 30 before progress on USBR 37 continues in that state.A route proposal in its entirety has emerged and is fully entered into OSM in Michigan (Upper Peninsula) as Michigan 35 from Menominee to Escanaba (continuing a potential USBR 37 in Wisconsin near or in Marinette).

USBR 40

No relation yet in Ohio

NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, SD, WY

In Ohio, ODOT's Access Ohio 2040 transportation plan proposes a route for USBR 40 that follows the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway in eastern Ohio but otherwise follows State Bike Route K, not yet entered into OSM. Hence, this is stalled here (as a "red proposed route") until further forward motion from ODOT or there is a published Route K map available (in which case K should be entered into OSM as an rcn).

USBR 40A

No relation yet in Ohio nor Indiana

OH:LUC, OH:FUL, OH:WIL

Not mapped yet. As part of ODOT's Access Ohio 2040 transportation plan, the proposed route would largely follow the Wabash Cannonball Trail and North Coast Inland Trail. The project awaits route data in the form of a map, turn-by-turn directions or a GPX file.

Emerging in Pennsylvania, entered in West Virginia, still-to-be-corrected in Indiana, early development in Utah and early emergence in Nevada.

In Pennsylvania, emergence of this proposal doesn't specify details except that it will include the Panhandle Trail, Montour Trail and some secondary roads. The eastern segment is speculative.
In West Virginia, the route is entered into OSM: through Weirton, Market Street Bridge onto SR 2 north, US 22 to Main Street to Cove Road to Harmon Creek Road to Colliers Road to Police Lodge Road to the Panhandle Trail.
In Indiana, USBR 50 uses the Bloomington Bicycle Club's RAIN Ride route ("essentially [U.S.] route 40"). [2] The route bypasses Indianapolis more to the south (Plainfield to Greenfield). The route through Terre Haute may require tweaking once discussions are complete. Richmond and Wayne County have passed resolutions in support of USBR 50. The current route through Indianapolis is incorrect and needs editing in OSM -- VOLUNTEER (GMail: irons54vortex@)!
Leaders from Bike Utah and Utah's tourism, economic development and transportation agencies met with ACA Director Jim Sayer to plan for USBR development in Utah. This is early work; look for more news later in 2015. (No relation yet in Utah, no route data available).
In Nevada, USBR 50 is emerging from a corridor around Interstate 80 at Utah to an intersection with USBR 79 near Fallon or Fernley, then to Carson City. However, it remains unclear where it goes west of Carson City (US Business Route 50? Interstate 580? Trunk roads instead of motorways?) to potentially connect to California. (No relation yet in Nevada, no route data available).

Completely mapped. Part of Ohio's forthcoming USBR 50 submission to AASHTO. (Huh? USBR 50 was approved, but did not include 50A. Might be deleted from this table and the relation suppressed from displaying in OCM).

In the early stages of development in Arkansas (only). In OSM USBR 51 is now two discontiguous relations: one (between Bentonville and Fayetteville) is the Razorback Regional Greenway in northwestern Arkansas, another (along US 71) is near Fort Smith. The Fort Smith segment may continue onto US Route 71B (from US Route 71), routing north of here is unclear.

In California, USBR 66 is described by the "California Bicycle Route 66 Concept Plan (Draft)" document that was published on 8/15/2013 by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Both the "Preliminary Route Concept" and the "Alternate Route Concepts" are now fully entered into OSM. Volunteers and planning departments are working to harmonize with many local jurisdictions which (if any) of the alternate routes might become part of a more final route. There remains a gap at MCLBB: the short version is that a formal request is going up the chain of command. Being optimistic, permission to traverse Boll Avenue (daytime only, must have acceptable ID...) has occurred before for a group of interstate bicyclists, so this approval might be considered "pending." ACA says SCAG receiving a MOU as a next intended step seems about right, though of course these things take time. Walt in southern California got more jurisdictions harmonious on the routing, accelerating the 66 effort! Volunteer KristenK has offered to scout POIs along portions of the proposed route. Any geographical suggestions for this trip?
In New Mexico, USBR 66 is fully entered into OSM as a proposed route from map version 1.02 published by Chris Marsh at the New Mexico Touring Society, not yet endorsed by NMDOT (as it undergoes harmonization).
In Oklahoma, USBR 66 is fully entered into OSM as a proposed route. Regarding (potentially confusing) state bicycle route 66: dialog between Bonnie Winslow (Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition) and Kerry Irons (Adventure Cycling Association) establishes that "...there is no existing state bike route 66 in Oklahoma. It has been proposed via legislation but not turned into reality. While legislation reads like it is declaring Route 66 to be a bike route, that is neither the proposed USBR 66 route nor did it turn into anything concrete. The best way to think of that bill passed in 2011 is as 'enabling legislation.' Final steps of actually defining the details of a route did not happen. Wheels are turning to make it happen now, but it did not happen then." The route entered into OSM as proposed rcn 66 in Oklahoma is this 2011 legislation route, but it is not the proposed USBR (ncn) 66.

Kansas has a ballot before AASHTO, significantly following ACA's Transamerica Trail.

Incipient in Wyoming. The route will follow US 287 from near Jackson to Rawlins, then US 287 Bypass onto Wyoming 76 onto I-80 at Exit 221 to Exit 235 onto SR 130, then SR 230 to the Colorado state line, where it becomes SR 125 in Colorado. There are challenges with traffic and road quality inside Yellowstone National Park. A possible routing would go through Jackson onto SR 22 into Idaho. What IS known about this route is entered into OSM (this is what is meant by "green" if this row is green), but omits yet-to-be-determined routing through northwest Wyoming.
There is at least one old-style, unofficial USBR 76 sign in Colorado, along SH 9. [3]

In Nevada, USBR 79 is in early emergence as US Route 50 from Utah to Fallon and/or Fernley to intersect with corridorized USBR 50. West of Fallon is unclear. Clarification is requested of NDOT (June 2015); its biannual bicycle report is due summer 2015. This row as "green" indicates "most route is known and entered" but will go yellow as more western route is articulated by NDOT.

An Alabama DOT document from 2009 says on page 12 "it is recommended that U.S. Bike Route 84 follow the same route as the state bicycle route (EW2)." However, Alabama appears not to be further developing this route nor does it have an active project to bring this route to AASHTO. This route is tagged with network=rcn + ref=EW2 + cycle_network=US:AL + ncn=proposed so the first two keys cause Cycle Map to display a solid turquoise line badged with turquoise EW2 shields, and the last key superimposes a dashed red line (with no red 84 shields).

In Alabama, USBR 90 is fully entered into OSM as it is proposed.
In Mississippi, USBR 90 is seeded as SR 53 between I-59 and Poplarville, where it travels west to Crossroads via SR 43 and east via Silver Run, Ten Mile, Latimer and Vancleave to Alabama. VOLUNTEER (GMail: irons54vortex@) to adopt and enter this route! Click the relation link to the left, then the Mississippi link, then choose an editor from the Edit drop down menu. You may wish to view the Beginners' guide.
In Louisiana, USBR 90 is fully entered into OSM as it is proposed.

About the colors:

Green means that the route proposal(s) data are fully entered into OSM for the state(s) listed in bold and all that remains is AASHTO application and approval. After AASHTO approval, the route can be moved from the Proposed section to the Approved section.

Yellow means that additional volunteer work is needed to enter or correct additional route data into OSM. Yellow may also mean a route has a volunteer entering data, yet route ambiguities persist.

Red means that there is "something" (often very little) known about the early stages of a proposed USBR, so it is useful to put a row in the table about it as a placeholder, but it is too early to create a route relation in OSM: either the state DOT hasn't yet received enough local approvals, a route map is too early a draft, or route data are not yet complete.